Seal or tag for meats



F. G. PURINTON SEAL OR TAG FOR MEATS Filed July 13, 1925 lhv/eni'or:

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Patented Jan. 19; 1926 I NEQTIIGUE: v

FORREST e. PURINTON; wAr rqe-Ugs z, BUTTON COMPANY, 01 WATEBBRY,:

essieiqon "1O gm: PATENT, eomrr-lo'rrcvir, A ooltieonhmozv or'mw I c-s-lmL onfr eieo n MEATS,

To all whomi't may wager-n;

Be a known that L, 1* QRREST re m-m;

axcit i'zen lof x116: United sta es, in

hvaterbua'y, i'nithe kcounty of New Hav 5' and agitate .Of CZOIZ I BC tlCUt,

certain mew .ancluseful Improyements ,-im Sea'ls or Tags for Meats, iofwghlch :the tolloWi-ng is a specification; I

My invent' on relates .to new and mproyements in tags or seals for meat Or *fowls and is especially adaptable LIEQI {smoke meats such as hams, s1deso:f ibacon,;etc..

' For articles of this nature, it "is desirable; to produce a tag or seal having thereon-a ''tra-clemark or' other insignia .denotihg f the brand or the name oftheiproiucer. One of -th'e-objectsgof the present-invention is' coprocluce'a'seail-or tag which may' be *passed. through-'mea t; such as a ham, land after the tag'or seal is once applied; cannot be} removed Without"so-lamagLI1-gthe seal other article. a 5 3 "The ,prese:rrt invent1onf1-sa compamon =ap- Iiliea't'ion to "anapplication filed by nle'l on May 26, 1925, Serial No. 32934, aficl one- "filed-oi .even date herew ith Serial ;N11m-ber @3337 :15. 111 t V .c The present application, -however, v con,- 'ttemplatesthe formation-of a seal which may "be "easily packed, --in bulk, it 'comprisi-ng but :twOTP'a-rts which are {assembled on the ha'm 1 or. other articlefWhenthe "same is tagged.

"Byformrng the ar ticleef'two separate parts "secured 'at the' time 0f taggingy there is'no assembling cost for the manufacture which,

from a commercial -sta1i lpoi-nt,is*of value.

lFtirthermore, the articles may he'more easily axik'eol iin biflkand occupy less space 40 than i assembledat the time of their manufacture. I

With theabove and otherl'objects in iew,

ispeci'ficatiori' proceeds, invention consists 5 in certain new arid novel arrarigerrierits and combination of parts 'as will "be hereinafter more fully describe-(Fahd poi tetl outfih the ,claims.; 7'

F-Reierrmg now to has been cwlecl,

preferred embodiment fmlyirwention pd 'j 1. l efiwi h 1 tagiler lseal. applied a Fig. m wshm mg 1-16 moldeof operation I of apply ng h isealp r I isy-a iiregm ntarrjidtailed view "showing the tag or fsealinqit's attached :form,

4 is :a perspelctive of the head. of a wmench fiori curling the end 10f the spindle ofthe tag, ,-v

;;.* F1g slit-shows the spindle alfterwthe isame Fig; 25 shows the spindlewith monogrwmchjea'i; the little washer :or :plate :oi' :the

tag aniil:the: W1 for applying :thetag :to the article, c

Flg. 6 is a fragmentary View showing fa Y slightly nrocl'ilfied-lfionmfof plate-rforiffihe tag, 7 =1s'-a'=perspective View show inglthe" r --modrfiecl form oftagor seal with the 'spind le' passeeltherethrough,and

. wreIioh for curlingitheiens Leif the spinelle.

severalariews aznd to Fig's;"-l 't' 5' iir pab tlcrllar there 1s shown as'pi-mileor shank 1, which 1s preferably termed of a rod or r wire (of aluminum off very "limitedidu'ctility's'o that although the-end of the spindle ma'y be rmrled; as at 2' and shown in F-ig. elflif I'Tstibsequtently bent or the I curled portion "stranghtened, the same-Will- 'at :once fatigue ancl break orsnap, thus'of course shorten- ,-1 ng thef length-of the spindle.

- flipper e el zoffthe es joi-n cl'le lfis heatled. as at "3, the, spmc'lle and head Simulating-in appearance an OIQllIlEUIY nail, the "lower ienfil mar .. "rejr e hfimmt i .0 2 in; any' aycontan i lyeri i lewit wh h t. maybe usii; jfq iti lly of 't' *o f-wehe spindle, however, not necessarily, p

will be passed the spindle 1 and allow the head 3 to fit flush within the plate. If desired, this small plate may be provided with insignia or reading matter and might be of any desired shape or contour.

The application of this tag or seal to the ham is a slmple one, an awl 7 being provided for the reception of the spindle 1, the latter, of course, having first been passed through the small plate 5. The awl 7 is then passed through the neck of the ham 8 as clearly shown in Fig. 2, after which the awl will be pulled therethrough, and the end of the spindle will then be curled as at 2, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

The head 9 of the wrench 10 is shown in Fig. 4, which may be provided with the nose 11, and the small lip 12, and by a turn or two of this wrench, the curl will be formed, tightly drawing the plate 5 against the surface of the ham, and holding the seal as a whole in position.

The seal is preferably applied to the neck of the ham, or in other words, at its shank, where the cross sectional dimension is the smallest, so that if the curl of the spindle should be maliciously cut or broken off, the spindle will be too short to be re-used on another similar article.

Furthermore, although other spindles might be used by someone to try to counterfeit or misbrand an article, the probabilities are that they would not go to the trouble to make dies with the monogram and insignia to head and impress the spindle, anda plain spindle would be quickly detected by the merchant handling the goods or by a purchaser.

In the modified form as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the plate 13 is illustrated as circular in outline rather than simulating the appearance of a ham, and has the downwardly extending flange 14 to be drawn into the skin of the ham when the spindle is tightly attached. This plate 13 has the small opening 15 and is depressed similarly to the deression 6 formed in the plate 5. The spindle 16 in this modified form of seal is identical with the spindle 1.

As'may be understood from Fig. 8, it may be desirable to use a wrench 10 havingra n0se11 which is triangular in shape so that the curl 2 will also be triangular in shape. When a wrench of this description is used, the sharp bending of the spindle will cause the metal of the curl to weaken and the angles of the nose may even bite or nick the metal at the several angles to further weaken the spindle at the place of bending.

It is thus possible to use a metal of higher ductility than where a round curl is made,

and this at times is desirable due to the fact that it is difiicult to purchase in the open "market a metal of extremely low ductility. From the foregoing it will be seen that I sealed, and the spindle.

have provided a seal or tag which is formed of two parts, a spindle and a plate, the spindle being formed of aluminum of very low ductility, headed and monogrammed, and, after the tag or seal is applied, the end of the spindle will be curled and will break or snap should the curl subsequently be tampered with.

It will be seen that there is no assembling necessary in the manufacture of the tag or seal, thereby cheapening the cost and at the same time the two parts may be conveniently packaged and occupy but a minimum space.

It will also be understood that where a spindle of very limited ductility is used, ordinary nose pliers might be used for putting the curl-at the end of the spindle instead of end of the spindle, or whether the end isto be sharply bent as shown in Fig. 8.

Furthermore, by heading and monogramming the top of the spindle, the use of unmonogrammed or non-marked spindles will be quickly detected.

Many slight changes might be made without in any way departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A tag or seal for meats comprising a spindle formed of metal of limited-ductility, the said spindle being headed at its upper end, a small metal plate provided-.-

with an aperture for the reception of said spindle, the lower end of the spindle being curled after the seal is applied to pull the metal plate ti htly against the article such that if the curl is subsequently bent, it will break from the spindle.

2. A tag or seal for meats comprisinga spindle formed of metal of limited ducductility of the metal being tility, the said spindle being headed, 'a

small metal plate provided with an aperture for the reception of said spindle, the lower ends of the spindle being curled afterv the seal is applied to pull the metal plate into the article sealed and the ductility of the metal being such that any attempt to uncurl the end will snap the curl from the 3. A tag or seal for meats comprising a spindle formed of aluminum of limited ductility, the said spindle being headed at its upper end, a small plate provided with an aperture for the reception of said spindle and the metal about the aperture depressed so that the head of the spindlewill lie flush with the said plate, the lower end of the spindle adapted to be curled after the spindle'has been passed throughthe article I to be sealed to tightly hold t-he plate in position, and the ductility of the metal being such that if the curl be subsequently 'bent, it will break from the spindle. I

4. A tag or seal for meats comprising a spindle formed of metal of relatively low ductility, the said spindle being headed, a plate fanciful in outline provided with a depressed opening and the spindle adapted to pass within said'opening and the head to lie flush With the upper surface of the plate, the lower end of the. spindle being bent after the spindle is passed through the article to be tagged to thus draw the adapted to be curled after the spindle has I been passed through the article to be sealed to thus tightly hold the plate in position, and the ductility of the metal being such that a subsequent bending of the curl will break itfrom the spindle.

spindle formed of metal of limited ductility, the said spindle being headed at its 7 upper end, a small metal plate provided with an aperture for the reception'of'said spindle, the lower end of the spindle being sharply bent upon itself to weaken-the metal and to'pull the metal plate, tightly 7 against the, article sealed, and theductility i of the metal spindle being such that-if the bent portion is subsequently straightened, it

will break from the spindle.

I 7. A tag or seal for meats comprising aspindleformed of metal of limited duetility, a p-late for receiving the spindle, the. 1 lower end. of the spindle being sharply. bent after the seal is applied to pull the metal plate tightly, against the article sealed, and the angularly bending of the metal and its limited ductility causing the lower end of. the spindle to snap ofi' if the same is subsequently bent.

In testimony whereof I aflix'my signature.

FORREST G. PURINTON.

35 6. A tag or seal for meats comprising a 

